INDIA’S FIRST NATIONAL PARK WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1936 DURING THE BRITISH RAJ AND NAMED HAILEY NATIONAL PARK ON THE NAME OF WILLIAM MALCOLM HAILEY, A GOVERNOR OF THE UNITED PROVINCES IN WHICH IT WAS THEN LOCATED. NEARLY A DECADE AFTER INDIA’S INDEPENDENCE IN 1956, IT WAS RENAMED CORBETT NATIONAL PARK  ON THE NAME OF A HUNTER AND NATURALIST JIM CORBETT WHO PLAYED A LEADING ROLE IN  THE PARK’S ESTABLISHMENT. ALSO, THE PARK WAS THE FIRST TO COME UNDER THE PROJECT TIGER 

INITIATIVE BECAUSE OF IT’S UNIQUE BIODERVISITY, AS IT HAS HILLS, RIVERINE BELTS, MARSHY DEPRESSIONS, GRASSLANDS, AND A LARGE LAKE. THE ELEVATION RANGES FROM 400 TO 1,220 M MAKES WINTER NIGHTS COLDER. IT RAINS FROM JULY TO SEPTEMBER.

THE PARK HAS SUB-HIMALAYAN BELT GEOGRAPHICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS. 

DENSE MOIST DECIDUOUS FOREST MAINLY CONSISTS OF  THE SAL TREE, HALDU, PEEPAL, ROHINI AND MANGO TREES. FOREST COVERS ALMOST 73 PER CENT OF THE PARK, WHILE 10 PER CENT OF THE AREA CONSISTS OF GRASSLANDS. IT HOUSES AROUND 110 TREE SPECIES, 617 DIFFERENT SPECIES OF PLANTS AND A DIVERSE VARIETY OF FAUNA. 600+ BIRD SPECIES AND 25 REPTILE SPECIES.

THOUGH THE MAIN FOCUS IS PROTECTION OF WILDLIFE, THE RESERVE MANAGEMENT HAS ALSO ENCOURAGED ECOTOURISM. IN 1993, A TRAINING COURSE COVERING NATURAL HISTORY, VISITOR MANAGEMENT AND PARK INTERPRETATION WAS INTRODUCED TO TRAIN NATURE GUIDES. A SECOND COURSE FOLLOWED IN 1995 WHICH RECRUITED MORE GUIDES FOR THE SAME PURPOSE. THIS ALLOWED THE STAFF OF THE RESERVE, PREVIOUSLY PREOCCUPIED WITH GUIDING THE VISITORS, TO CARRY OUT MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES UNINTERRUPTED.

THE INDIAN GOVERNMENT HAS ORGANISED WORKSHOPS ON ECOTOURISM IN CORBETT NATIONAL PARK AND GARHWAL REGION TO ENSURE THAT THE LOCAL CITIZENS PROFIT FROM TOURISM WHILE THE PARK REMAINS PROTECTED. 

ATTRACTIONS

• DHIKALA IS SITUATED AT THE FRINGES OF PATLI DUN VALLEY. THERE IS A REST HOUSE, WHICH WAS BUILT HUNDREDS OF YEARS AGO. KANDA RIDGE FORMS THE BACKDROP, AND FROM DHIKALA, THERE ARE VIEWS OF THE VALLEY.
• EIGHT ZONES FOR SAFARI OFFERS OPPORTUNITY TO TOURISTS TO WITNESS THE GREAT BIODIVERSITY OF THE PARK, FROM PLAINS OF THE FOREST TO THE HILLS WITH RIVER, GRASSLANDS WITH CHANCES TO SPOT RANGE OF WILDLIFE.
• KALAGARH DAM IS IN THE SOUTH-WEST OF THE WILDLIFE SANCTUARY. MANY MIGRATORY BIRDS COME HERE IN THE WINTERS.
• CORBETT MUSEUM IS A HOUSE OF MR JIM CORBETT, SITUATED 30 KMS FROM RAMNAGAR, AND 1 KM BEFORE KALADHUNGI, ON THE KALADHUNGI–RAMNAGAR HIGHWAY.
• CORBETT FALLS IS A 20 M (66 FT) WATER FALL SITUATED 25 KM (16 MI) FROM RAMNAGAR, AND 4 KM (2.5 MI) FROM KALADHUNGI, ON THE KALADHUNGI–RAMNAGAR HIGHWAY. THE FALLS ARE SURROUNDED BY DENSE FORESTS.
• GARJIYA DEVI TEMPLE IS SACRED TO GARJIYA DEVI AND IS MOSTLY VISITED DURING THE KARTIK PURNIMA (NOVEMBER – DECEMBER). IT IS LOCATED ON THE BANK OF THE RIVER KOSI, AMIDST THE HILLY TERRAINS OF UTTARAKHAND, NEARBY GARJIYA VILLAGE, AT A DISTANCE OF 14 KM. FROM RAMNAGAR, UTTARAKHAND, INDIA.